Ball and socket joints have many applications and are used for connecting two components in a way that allows for relative movement between the components.
Existing ball and socket joints suffer from a number of problems insofar as they may not permit sufficient movement between the connected components for all applications. Furthermore, prior art joints are not generally separated easily because the ball and socket elements are either permanently held together or held together in such a way that it is difficult to separate them without the use of other tools. Finally and in general prior art joints are not conveniently and releasably lockable.
Surgical retractors are used to hold apart tissues or organs that overlie the organ(s) of interest during surgical procedures. A surgical retractor consists of a rigid frame to which retractor blades are attached. The retractor blades are placed in a desired position and fixed into that position in order to hold open tissue or organ(s) during surgical operations. The rigid frame may consist of different shapes including rings, ovals and independent arms. For greater stability the rigid frame is often fixed to the operating table by a table mounted clamping assembly.
Whilst ball and socket joints have been used to connect components of surgical retractor systems, they currently provide limited movement between components and are complicated to separate. Furthermore, prior art ball and socket joints do not provide a convenient means for releasably locking the components in a fixed position.
The present invention seeks to provide a ball and socket interconnection that is simple to separate and assemble and when assembled allows for substantial relative movement.
The present invention also seeks to provide a lockable ball and socket interconnection that is simple to separate and assemble and when assembled allows for substantial relative movement.